Gênesis 43

Men Hungersnøden var hård i Landet;

Hvis du derfor vil sende vor Broder med os, vil vi rejse ned og købe dig Føde;

Jeg svarer for ham, af min Hånd må du kræve ham: bringer jeg ham ikke til dig og stiller ham for dit Åsyn, vil jeg være din Skyldner for bestandig;

og tag dobbelt så mange Penge med, så I bringer de Penge tilbage, som var lagt oven i eders Sække; måske var det en Fejltagelse;

og tag så eders Broder og drag atter til Manden!

Så tog Mændene deres Gave og dobbelt så mange Penge med; også Benjamin tog de med, brød op og drog ned til Ægypten, hvor de fremstillede sig for Josef.

Manden gjorde, som Josef bød,. og førte Mændene ind i Josefs Hus.

Derfor trådte de hen til Josefs Hushovmester ved Døren til Huset

og da vi kom til vort Natteherberge og åbnede vore Sække, se. da lå vore Penge oven i hver enkelts Sæk, vore Penge til sidste Hvid. Men nu har vi bragt dem med tilbage

Så førte Manden dem ind i Josefs Hus og gav dem Vand til at tvætte deres Fødder og Foder til Æslerne.

Og de fremtog deres Gave, før Josef kom hjem ved Middagstid, thi de hørte, at de skulde spise der.

Da Josef trådte ind i Huset, bragte de ham den Gave, de havde med, og kastede sig til Jorden for ham.

Men Josef brød hurtigt af, thi Kærligheden til Broderen blussede op i ham, og han kæmpede med Gråden; derfor gik han ind i sit Kammer og græd der.

Så blev Maden sat frem særskilt for ham og for dem og for de Ægyptere, der spiste hos ham; thi Ægypterne kan ikke spise sammen med Hebræere, det er dem en Vederstyggelighed.

De blev bænket foran ham efter Alder, den førstefødte øverst og den yngste nederst, og Mændene undrede sig og så på hverandre;

og han lod dem bringe Mad fra sit eget Bord, og Benjamin fik fem Gange så meget som hver af de andre. Og de drak og blev lystige sammen med ham.

And the famine {was} sore in the land.

And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother {be} with you. {did...: Heb. protesting protested}

If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

But if thou wilt not send {him}, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother {be} with you.

And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye {so} ill with me, {as} to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, {Is} your father yet alive? have ye {another} brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? {asked...: Heb. asking asked us} {tenor: Heb. mouth} {could...: Heb. knowing could we know}

And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, {and} also our little ones.

I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. {this: or, twice by this}

And their father Israel said unto them, If {it must be} so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry {it} again in your hand; peradventure it {was} an oversight:

Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:

And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved {of my children}, I am bereaved. {If...: or, And I, as I have been, etc.}

And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring {these} men home, and slay, and make ready; for {these} men shall dine with me at noon. {slay: Heb. kill a killing} {dine: Heb. eat}

And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. {seek...: Heb. roll himself upon us}

And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: {we...: Heb. coming down we came down}

And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, {every} man's money {was} in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.

And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

And he said, Peace {be} to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. {I had...: Heb. your money came to me}

And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave {them} water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which {was} in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

And he asked them of {their} welfare, and said, {Is} your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? {Is} he yet alive? {welfare: Heb. peace} {Is your...: Heb. Is there peace to your father?}

And they answered, Thy servant our father {is} in good health, he {is} yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.

And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, {Is} this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought {where} to weep; and he entered into {his} chamber, and wept there.

And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that {is} an abomination unto the Egyptians.

And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.

And he took {and sent} messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him. {were...: Heb. drank largely}